ELR Citation: ELR 20087
No(s). 2008-5058 (Fed. Cir. Apr 9, 2009)

The Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing commercial fishermen's takings claim against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) for prohibiting commercial fishing on waters surrounding the Palmyra National Wildlife Refuge. The fishermen argued they were entitled to compensation because the government's regulation was targeted at their commercial fishing operation. But DOI's regulation does not prohibit commercial fishing operations on Palmyra—it merely prohibits commercial fishing activity in the surrounding waters. The fact that the government's regulation of activities in the waters surrounding Palmyra may have adversely affected the value of their contract rights to engage in activities on shore is not sufficient to constitute a compensable taking. The ban on fishing may have reduced the value of the plaintiffs' license to operate on the island, but that reduction in value is not the result of a compensable taking of any cognizable property interest.